tedster - 7:23 pm on Oct 9, 2010 (gmt 0)

Your concern about loading time for images is good. Here are some ideas:

1. Have smaller versions of the photos on the main page, then allow a click to display the full sized version on a new URL. This way when a photo looks interesting, the visitor can click on it and they know that a longer loading time is required.

2. Even when using smaller version, don't display too many of them on one page.

3. Especially for the small versions, be sure to use good image compression. Many photographers and artists are reluctant to use high compression levels because they are worried about the poor visual quality. But with Photoshop's "Save for the web" option, even a 40% setting (60% compression) is just fine for most jpg images.

4. Don't create pages with very little (or no) text. Include names and descriptions for each photo so the search engines gave something they can use.